


warmth

by rib14



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: 15 Days of FatT, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 11:03:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13762761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rib14/pseuds/rib14
Summary: a jace/addax reunion!





	warmth

**Author's Note:**

> so i originally wrote this for secret samol until i realized i was actually asked to write abt The Boys during the war, so i wrote a different thing n saved this one for a special occasion, n here it is!!! i'm putting this separate from my other 15 days prompt bc i'm proud of it n it deserves 2 shine. thx

They were both in the crowd in Centralia, hearing Ibex’s speech live and in-person, but for very different reasons. Ibex had asked Jace to be there, not as a public figure, thank god, but to “acclimate him to the world again”, or more likely as some sort of political move that Jace wasn’t quite sure of yet. It seemed the politics of the world had changed a lot in the past ten years, and if Jace wasn’t sure of all the pieces on the board during the Golden War, he had no idea what to expect now. Everything felt strange, especially wearing civilian clothes again, especially since the fashions had changed a great deal while he was in the memory den. He pulled his hood tighter over his face, not ready for anyone to recognize him yet, even if Ibex told him he was seen as a hero, which he didn’t or couldn’t bring himself to believe yet.

Addax was there on assignment. The Rapid Evening had an interest in the Righteous Vanguard, as they had in everything in the star sector, and as Addax was their man on Counterweight, he was in attendance at the rallying cry for the Vanguard, even if the political pieces had been in place for the transition of power for a while at this point. He was sure they had other assets watching as well, given the importance the Evening placed on changes in political power, though in the past few months their resources were being stretched thin with the merger of EarthHome and Snowtrak, the overthrow of the Apostolosian Empire, and the dissolution of the Consolidated Counterweight Technocracy. So maybe he was the only one there. Either way, he had to be on the lookout for anything out of place, which was difficult when nothing felt quite like it was in place.

Both Jace and Addax had more to think about than the contents of Ibex’s speech, so they only watched, but didn’t really listen, as he stood over Counterweight, calm but passionate, and told its citizens they deserved more. Addax’s focus shifted from his former countryman to the mass of faces in the crowd, then one jumped out at him, and his heart skipped a beat. He did a double then a triple take, and the more he looked the more determined he became that it was  _ him _ . But… it had to be a coincidence, Jace Rethal was dead. But so was Addax, officially. He pushed through the crowd, a difficult task even for a highly trained agent of the Rapid Evening, until he was only a few feet away from Jace, who seemed transfixed on Ibex. No, he wasn’t, Addax realized a few seconds later. He’s just lost in thought. Addax allowed himself to smile. Ten years and Jace is still the same.

Before Addax could say anything, the sky flickered and vanished. The whole crowd, including Jace and Addax, looked up, and saw the BluSky Dome disappear, giving way to the vastness of space, flickering stars, Weight in all its beauty. Addax felt a shiver go down his spine; it was warm and humid outside but suddenly Centralia felt alone and so, so cold. And then, all at once, Jace turned around and saw him,  _ smiled at him _ , and everything felt warm again. That was the moment Addax was sure it really was Jace, no one else could make him feel quite like that, even after all those years. 

Jace’s eyes, bright with the sudden excitement of seeing Addax again, brought Addax back to another time- not a simpler one by any means, but one where he spent time with Jace, the hero of Oricon, the only person that could make his heart beat like it was beating now. And, god, Jace was smiling, that contagious smile that couldn’t help but make you feel good about humanity for once. It all felt new and old at the same time, nostalgia mixed with a new future Addax wanted but hadn’t dreamed of for ten years until this moment.

Jace pushed his way through the last couple people in between the two of them and put his hands on Addax’s shoulders. “I thought you were dead!” he said, tears forming in his eyes.

“I could say the same thing about you.” Addax replied, sliding Jace’s hands off of his shoulders to hold them in his own. The he paused. “God, Jace I’m so sorry, I-”

Jace nodded and squeezed his hands. “No, it’s okay. I… I understand. I’ve seen it enough times to get it now, I think.”

“What do you mean?”

“The past ten years… I’ve, um, I’ve been in Mesa, in this weird memory thing, actually I’ve been living the last few months of… of our time together for the past ten years.”

Addax’s eyes widen. “What? That’s terrible Jace, I had no idea… if I had known you were alive, you know that I would’ve looked for you. God...”

Jace smiles to himself, looking at the ground. “Really Addax, it’s not your fault.” He pauses. “It’s been weird. I’m glad to see you again, though. Well, the new you, instead of my weird memory version of you.” He looks Addax up and down. “I think I prefer this one. Ten years and you still look good, Candidate.”

Addax starts to smile at the first comment then stops. “Oh, I’m not- I don’t- I’m not with them anymore, the Diaspora.”

“Oh.” Jace pauses. “The Diaspora still exists though, right? There have been so many changes in the star sector, I don’t even know what’s going on anymore.”

Addax smiles despite himself. “Yeah, the Diaspora’s still around. Pretty split these days, though.” He nods towards Ibex, still spouting his revolutionary doctrine. “This one’s gaining traction again. Brings me back to… well, you know. You remember better than me, I guess.”

Jace nods. “I still don’t trust him.”

“Neither do I.”

Jace takes a deep breath in. “Are you… are you doing anything tonight?”

Addax thought about the report he needs to write, the mission briefing he probably needs to read, all the other Rapid Evening demands he needs to complete by tomorrow. “No.”

“Do you wanna, like, get out of here, then? I would love to spend some time with someone that’s not trying to get anything from me. Or, well, at least someone I actually want to be with.”

“You’re not tired of me, after all the memory stuff?” Addax asks, leading them away from the crowd, making sure to hold Jace’s hand as tight as he can.

“Oh… no. I got tired of a lot of things in there, but never you. Even at the end, on Counterweight. I could never get tired of you, Addax, you should know that.”

“That’s… good to hear.” Addax tries not think about what he did to Jace through Order all those years ago, and how it feels like only months ago, maybe even yesterday, to him.

But tonight, he would give himself this one thing. The Evening wouldn’t mind, they might even get a new agent if Addax got lucky. So Addax got one night of warmth, a reunion he never dreamed would happen, his Jace in his arms again. And he wished it could be like that forever.

**Author's Note:**

> hey thx 4 reading!! u can find me on twitter @makotrig where i mostly cry abt jace rethal


End file.
